The Blue Butterfly In My Palms
by Aiko Isari
Summary: [Persona 3-4/Decode]Mirei wakes up on a train, with an aching heart and butterflies around her head. She has one year to figure out why. The main problem? She wiped her friends' memories of her and their adventure, and she doesn't exist.
1. Chapter 1

_warning for canon spoilers_

* * *

 _The world is a piecemeal collage,_

 _bound by the threads of life._

 _We dangle strength_

 _From the memories held and abandoned_

 _By strings without name_

 _To you, we offer one year's time._

 _With your heart as your guide_

 _Go forth and seek what has been lost_

 _And create it anew_

 _ **chapter one - down the train tracks**_

 _?,?_

"It's dangerous to sleep on the train, you know."

Mikagura Mirei awoke with a start, purple eyes flashing to the person sitting next to her. They smiled, eyes solemn and almost gentle through their blue hair. Her dark fingers curled over the case of her laptop in a protective gesture. Then her free hand went to her warm forehead and she shuddered with a heavy chill. The boy frowned.

"Are you well?"

Mirei found herself smiling. Her guard hadn't dropped, but perhaps her sanity had a little. "Usually not." The truth of this was almost uncanny. She didn't have a body to help and keep healthy, only a form to maintain. At least, that was as far as she knew. Her memories were jumbled up at best, due to circumstances beyond her control. Thinking about that might prove to be a pointless effort. She would just have to see.

Instead, she returned her focus to the young man beside her. His grey eyes were intent on the old MP3 player screen, tapping out a steady rhythm with long, pale fingers.

"Who are you?" she said after a few minutes. He paused to look at her, lowering the earphones. He smiled a bit.

"I suppose you wouldn't remember." His voice slowed, deepening like fingers touching the bottom of a pond. "You've been working hard all of this time after all. It's only natural that you would have consequences like this. As you and Igor tried to tell me, 'we must take responsibility for our actions.' I didn't take you seriously until towards the end, I think."

The name 'Igor' made her stomach flutter with anxiety, but she pushed it away to look at him still. Look at the dark colors of his clothes, threadbare with multiple washes and resewn from tears and rips.

 _He's holding her hand, showing her how to really dance, his blue school coat is a blot on the bright colors of pink and grey. It melds with his hair and he almost smiles and tugs on the hat she wears. Only one other brings this sort of cheer out of him, she notes, which is unusual because she is always cheerful in her own way._

 _He's using his jacket as her pillow. She's petting a small grey dog who licks her and noses her with gentle awareness. He knows what she is, he knows better than her._

 _He's unbuttoning his dress shirt, he's embarrassed without a change in the lines of his mouth._

 _His face is made of stone and he is staring blankly forward. She touches where his chest is carved and reaches in and in. She is the Universe. She is aware of it all once again._

 _She is falling. A woman is screaming. She is falling. Her glasses are lost and she is falling through a sea of numbers._

 _She is unraveling._

"Indeed we must," she finally said, mouth dry. "Still, your name would be appreciated."

He smiled a little. "Yuki Makoto."

The name opened a hundred doors and she felt her smile soften for reasons she didn't understand. "It has been a while," she finally said, as if the memories made sense that she could gather up and compartmentalize away. "I suppose I must have succeeded in my endeavor."

"For the most part," Makoto agreed, nodding at her with a respectful little grin. "I'm still recovering of course, as are you. You have been wavering between existences for a long time, but it seems you've settled on one, huh?"

Mirei looked at herself, at the purple hair and twists of her clothes. There were odd memories associated with them too, of people close to her appearing age and giant monsters, of friends, like the angel and devil on her shoulder. As she looked about, glittering blue wings fluttered past her nose, alighting on her right shoulder.

A butterfly flaps its wings and causes a hurricane.

She smiled and sighed to herself. "It appears that is the case."

"Good," he said. He opened one hand and a blue file swiveled out from the palm, pen floating beside it. "Then I think you know what this is, don't you?"

Mirei took it and the then offered pen, and she smiled. She thought of blond hair and mechanical arms. She thought of grey and blue and a flashy pair of goggles. "'I chooseth this fate of my own free will,'" she read aloud, just to be safe. _Accept responsibility for your actions._

Indeed. That was something she knew how to do very well, after all of this time. She signed and Makoto took it back.

"And now it begins," he mused, and when he looked up at her, his grey eyes were cat-yellow. "Doesn't it?"

"It does," she said, and an announcement began to blare over their heads. The lights of the city began to wink into view, one at a time. "I hope to see you soon."

He vanished the file and pen away and rose to his feet. "I think we will. Later then?"

Mirei dipped her head and closed her eyes. "I'll see you later."

The blue butterfly flapped from her shoulder, wings moving to the sound of the mechanical announcement of now arriving in Kyoto.

Her destination was a long way off, but that didn't mean others couldn't join her.

* * *

 _April 2013_

Taiga was having too good of a day.

He had gotten up on time. He had managed to eat the healthy breakfast his mom had recommended. Heck, he even had his uniform ready. High school wasn't going to stand a chance. He swallowed his last bite of toast and went to head out, blue-grey spikes even tamed from their typical bedhead disaster. Note to self, just water is fine. Not crisco. Never again with the Crisco.

He hurried out of his dorm bathroom. Today wasn't a big deal. First days were short at his school, but he still had a long day ahead of him. He sure hoped the manager at the cafe hadn't changed his mind again...

At the sight of his dinged, slightly garish goggles, he hesitated. Taiga had been trying to get rid of the things for about a couple of years now. He had wanted to come to high school back then looking a bit less like the nerd he was, even if his insides hadn't changed. It would look good for jobs and the like and all. But try as he might, he could never let them go. It would make his heart sink to even consider them in the garbage.

That in mind, Taiga gave up and placed them to loop around the strap of his bag. If it looked weird, too bad. At this point, he really ought to stop worrying about his academic reputation. If it was doomed, it was doomed a long time ago.

He hurried to the train station, eyes intent on the traffic. At least Iwatodai was less crowded than home, not by much.

Just had to get through today and then the rest of the week. No pressure, none.

He felt something alight on his shoulder for a moment before it passed him on by. His eyes glimpsed blue sparkling wings. And then it was gone.

What might have been a butterfly vanished in the wake of his best friend's face as he tugged on his uncomfortable jacket collar, his mouth twisted in irritation. It was just hot enough not to need the thing, but the dress code was the dress code. Besides, Niko hated heat in general. Taiga had no idea what his problem was. He waved his hand in his general direction and gave a shout of greeting. It took Nikolai a moment to see him. Considering the guy had grown to over six feet since the onset of puberty, it was no wonder the guy hadn't been able to see him. Taiga tried not to grumble. It wasn't like either of them needed to stand out any.

Niko moved over, parting the sea of people with ease and answered with distaste. With the talent of a long since uncomfortable and accepting person, Niko ignored it. Nikolai had his hair back in a small ponytail, having grown it out slightly since his father started spending more time at home. RIna had joked that he was in his rebellious phase forever. Taiga just figured he didn't feel like getting it cut.

The two of them gave each other a companionable shoulder bump. It got some looks. It wasn't that they were too young to care, they just didn't. "Good few days off?" Taiga asked, hurrying to secure a spot for the oncoming train.

"All none of them," Niko deadpanned, eyes completely brimming with amusement. "RIna blew up my phone."

"Literally or figuratively?" With Shinomiya Rina, either was completely possible, the math and science nerd that she was. She was the only one they knew, lazybone or not, that they knew earned that stereotype of top of the class. It was almost annoying.

Niko grunted. "She tried literally." He shook his head, making to push through the crowd. "She was keeping something secret. I didn't think she could actually do that."

"You're so nice man," Taiga deadpanned.

"For god and country." They ducked onto the train, finding what few seats were available and quickly folding their legs. Niko almost looked like an overgrown kid. "What's it so crowded for today?" he grumbled, shaking his head in exasperation.

Taiga shrugged. "Think some alumni might be coming by or something. That or I think Aegis-san said something about a lot of dorm mix ups this year, 'cause they switched computer systems. I think." He shook his head and shrugged. "She said she wasn't really happy about it in any case. It made it more difficult to keep an eye on the dorm…" He trailed off at the sight of Niko just looking at him, calmly appraising his best friend like he should know something he didn't. Taiga's light skin flushed with embarrassment. "Dude no."

"Good."

Taiga huffed a bit, fiddling with his goggles. Yes, Aegis was nice and cute and awkward and sometimes said things that made no sense, but that didn't mean anything. It certainly didn't mean anything that there was a girl's email address in his phone with emails in it that were similar that he didn't know but for whatever reason didn't want to delete, nope, not at all. She was an alumni and a college student, besides. It was awkward at best. "You're so supportive man."

"It's part of my duties for the new year." Niko cast around for a change of subject. "You hear anything from Yuuya?"

Taiga shook his head no. "Barely a thing. I'm not sure if he'll be back at school." Hell, Akiho didn't even live near them to go to their school, though she supposedly had the grades for Gekkoukan. Taiga had never seen her transcript so he would just have to believe her.

Niko let out a sigh. "I dunno man. We really should call somebody."

Taiga shook his head. "Not going to get anything out of him. GIGO's too big anyway. Between them and Kirijo, Japan's under an iron fist of economics." He wrinkled his nose. He wouldn't have talked about things like that back in middle school. Growing up probably encouraged that out of him. Eurgh.

But there was nothing he could do about that now. Days were passing by and life was changing. He just had to be optimistic that it would be for the better.

The Digivice app beeped softly on his phone, unheard over the sound of the trains.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ You know what I blame for this? I blame the Persona 3 movies. I saw the last one and just melted into my blanket. I cried. I tend not to cry at much of anything. But it took me a while to get this to you guys and now here it is!

This takes place after Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Dancing All Night and post-Decode canon. However! You lucky ducks won't need to really get Decode canon yet because it's not available to anyone yet! That all said, please read and review! It is greatly appreciated and really helps me as a writer! Have a good one!

 **Challenges:** Crossover Boot Camp prompt - route, 100 prompts, 100 MCs prompt 'sweetheart', Gameverse Boot Camp prompt 'possess', Epic Masterclass (World) 6. crossover prompt, Diversity Writing (Game/Gen) M8, and Crossover Big Bang


	2. Chapter 2

_**chapter two - faces old and new**_

 _April 2013, Gekkoukan High School_

The cherry blossom petals were spinning about from their branches like pink pinwheels as Akiho stood inside the teacher's office. She cast her eyes about the room in an attempt to distract herself from the other occupants of the room and the distinct lack of her homeroom teacher. Not even half a meter away was the other transfer student, speaking softly with an older male beneath roughly cut locks of lilac hair. She tried not to twitch. Where was hers at? They knew she was here, her transcript had been sent over weeks in advance.

The others, barring Rina, had _no idea._ Which had always been the plan. Surprising them was always so hard because they were so damn _sarcastic_ and yet right on the money. She had had to promise Rina a week's worth of Pocky to keep her mouth shut. Hopefully it was worth it.

She turned to the sound of the opening door to see a young woman, blond hair cut short and jagged. Akiho stared for a moment, locked on the woman's eyes. They were an inhuman shade of electric blue. Her hands fidgeted over the black skirt that touched beyond her knees as she caught her breath abnormally fast. She managed a smile when she straightened up.

"Rindou Akiho-san, yes?" At Akiho's nod, the woman bowed slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yuki Aegis and I'll be your student homeroom teacher, in the study of home economics. I apologize for my tardiness. Some last minute additions came to the dorm just this morning, and i needed to make sure they were adequately taken care of. Your things will arrive this afternoon correct?"

"Yes!" The word almost squeaked out in her surprise, and relief. "Thank you very much."

Yuki-sensei shook her head. "You're quite welcome. Since it's your first day in the area, I'll walk you to the auditorium momentarily. Please wait a moment."

Akiho watched the woman leave her side, going to speak to the other teacher. The other young woman had stepped back towards the door, playing with a crooked purple ribbon at her neck.

"Mikagura-senpai?" The other looked up as Akiho stepped closer. "Do you mind if I adjust that for you?"

Surprise flickered on the other woman's face before smoothing into a polite smile. "If you don't mind."

"Not at all." Akiho moved to retie it, pulling it and seeing frayed ends drift over her fingers. "You have had this for a while, huh?"

"Mmhm." Mikagura smiled a little more, this a bit relaxed. "Someone important gave it to me. I suppose it's run its course. I'll need to buy a new one… only I don't know where to go." Her eyes were scanning Akiho slowly, before resting on the movement of her fingers.

"My friends and I are probably going to meet up after school," Akiho said as she worked. "A couple of them come to Tatsumi Port Island sometimes. They might know a place."

Mirei's eyebrows lifted high to her bangs. "Do they truly? That would be wonderful."

Akiho beamed and stepped back. "Great! That's settled."

"And so are we." Yuki-sensei's voice caused them both to turn. The woman smiled. "Thank you for your patience. We are ready to depart."

Both girls nodded and trailed after them, Akiho casting her eyes about for her friends. She couldn't wait to see them, if for the look on their faces alone. She didn't notice the way her senpai's eyes looked down at her as they walked before darting away.

* * *

"Okay, Niko, you're tall, you look."

Niko groaned. "Dude, really?"

"Yes, really. You want me to climb you? I can do that too?"

That last response got Niko's fist square on the top of Taiga's head. "Ow. Bastard."

"You deserved it."

Taiga shot him a glare and looked away. "Just check where we are so we can get our tearful goodbyes out of the way."

"Speak for yourself, my school year will be in rapture without you." Niko smirked as he scanned the list. "Freedom from your scrawny ass."

"At least I'm not the equivalent of a right-" He saw Niko's jaw drop and frowned. "What?"

"Uh, well." Niko cleared his throat. "Good news and weird news." At Taiga's raised eyebrow, he said, "Well, good news, Yuuya's in the class next door to us with Rina, with the rest of the over studious fellows. The weird news?"

Taiga's eye twitched. "If you pause for dramatic effect any longer, I'm going to kill you."

Niko quickly exhaled because Taiga at least might try. "Akiho is in our class."

Taiga paused a minute, sure he had misheard that. "Wait… what? How… what?"

"Surprise," chirped a voice. They turned to see green hair, twisted up in a braid, surrounding red eyes and a big smile. "She made me swear not to tell." Rina waved her bag at them and their utterly baffled faces. "What~ no hug?"

Taiga took that moment and jumped her in a hug the strength of a constrictor snake. Niko was behind, looser, more wary somewhat. Taiga didn't care; he wasn't the one crushingly obsessed with her to an absurd degree. "Haven't seen you in ages!"

"Busy with work n' Niko n' stuff." Her arms encircled them both with ease. He missed the days she would bounce around them like a kid, but he supposed growing up happened to everyone, even them. "It was boring. Also Akiho needed help convincing her folks to let her go."

Niko winced, pulling them apart if only to stop the amused looks being shot their way. _God it's like people can't be friends or something._ He almost missed Russia, almost missed France, even. He definitely didn't miss hearing about Akiho's folks. "They haven't moved down here, have they?"

"Oh no, she got kicked out." Rina waved a hand as she spoke.

"She _what."_ The air around Taiga briefly grew stormy and Rina \waved her hands about again, more like flapping wings this time.

"Later! We'll talk about this later!" She tugged on their arms. "Go to your class. We'll meet later!" Rina gave them both a rough shove with a hand each. "She'll tell you all about it after class!" She darted away to another part of the gymnasium where if Taiga leaned just hard enough to the left, he could see the elfin features of Kuga Yuuya almost hidden behind a taller classmate. They were soon next to each other, because black and green were an unholy combination on the eyes.

Niko nudged him and pointed through a sea of black where, after a second, there was a clear blur of pink a row ahead. Taiga swallowed.

"Welp," he said.

"Yeah," Niko agreed. "Well."

They were going to have a long talk about this.

As Taiga went to his seat, however, he saw a head of purple hair in a crowd of second-years. For some reason, his chest throbbed.

* * *

Mirei had no memories of going to school. Well, not high school at any rate. The closest she had were memories from another body, memories from another time, and she hadn't participated. Only visited, only observed. This was nothing like that.

Surrounded by people she didn't know, hearing them talk about things she could never relate to, she pressed her fingers against the pocket of her skirt in a feeling akin to absolute boredom. She could feel the whispers around her, soft and curious and in some cases, interested in a way that made her spine tingle. She of course, made to ignore it. Soon, the auditorium filled and they were allowed to sit, to listen to speech after speech. For some reason it was long, and Mirei found herself tuning out within minutes.

 _I do so hope I've never made a speech this dull._ She scratched behind her ear with a relieved grimace as one seemed to start to wind down. _At the very least, I hope I never sound that way ever again._

A part of her wanted to giggle, but to do that here would probably get her in trouble. So she muffled her amusement into her lips. There were better things to concern herself with. First were the facts. You needed those to make a conjecture, or a least a proper one.

Fact One: She had once been the entity, the assistant of the existence called Igor, named Elizabeth. She had stayed as such for a long time, until she had met Makoto, until he had touched her life. Until something had changed.

Fact Two: Her name was Mikagura Mirei, and it was not her first time with that name. She had lived in the Digital World and she had Digimon in her pocket.

Fact Three: She was currently able to exist in the human world without repercussions. That shouldn't be possible.

 _So,_ she thought as speaker passed for one more. _What does that mean? And what am I here for?_

Was this change of state permanent? And what was the cost of that?

Mirei felt the smile widen on her face and obediently clapped along with the rest. Perhaps it was the long-dead researcher in her, but she couldn't wait to find out.

As people began to rise, time slowed and something collapsed around her, shattering the moment and framing it in blue.

 _Welcome to your path into the world, my dear young lass. The time has finally come at last._

Mirei smiled to the point of showing teeth and the room resumed activity. _Indeed it has._

* * *

Akiho barely got out of her seat before Yuuya had taken her by the hand (somehow before Taiga and Niko could and from another classroom, he really did just bend reality by being a GIGO executive at the age of sixteen?) and pulled her out of the room. For such a tiny person, he had a lot of force. Not that she could blame him, they hadn't exactly gotten to talk. Still!

"Yuuya, where are we going?"

"Where all big secret conversations go in anime," he deadpanned. Akiho just stared at him for a moment before heaving a too large sigh.

"I am never letting Niko and Rina live that sleepover down for what it's done to you," she told him. " _Never."_

"Probably shouldn't," he agreed with a grin.

Well, at least he had let her grab her stuff. Everyone would take a while to get out of the school. So of course they had sought out the roof as a refuge, right?

When they made it up there, they found someone already in their spot. Akiho, thankfully recognized the purple hair and the slender fingers clenched around the fence metal. "Mikagura-senpai!" For some reason, saying the name, in that instant, felt completely wrong, like she was meant to say something stronger, better. More accurate to… them, whatever that meant.

The other young woman turned and smiled, a foreigner's dark pine skin glowing in the spring sun. For whatever reason, she found herself having to pause. It perhaps wasn't for that, but for the way her eyes, for a moment, looked cat yellow.

Then they were their unusual shade of purple again. She waved a little. "Hello."

"Hey there." Akiho made herself relax, something that she simply didn't have to do, normally. "Waiting for me?"

The smile widened, almost appearing to be sharp somehow. "Well, I do remember you mentioning something about me purchasing a new ribbon."

Akiho nodded. "Yeah! I did. Rina probably knows a place." Yuuya's none too subtle wrist tug made her huff. "I was _getting_ to that." she made a gesture. "She transferred in today like I did."

Yuuya dipped his head into a quick bow and smiled. "Pleased to meet you." Unlike her, he didn't seem to feel this unusual unease. "My name is Kuga Yuuya."

Mirei started a little, before bowing in return. Recognition flickered into her eyes, which wasn't surprising in the slightest. The Kuga family was almost as well known as the Kirijo family, for various reasons.

"My name is Mikagura Mirei," the other replied. "It's a pleasure."

For some reason, she felt Yuuya's grip tighten on her arm at that.


	3. Chapter 3

_**chapter three - the empty hearts**_

 _April 2013, Paulownia Mall_

The shadows, much to the surprise of many, often moved throughout the daytime.

Kirijo Mitsuru knew that fact all too well. They often grew under her eyes, in the corners of her mouth, in her half-empty bed and the open window.

Even now that the Dark Hour had faded, Mitsuru often kept a lookout for corpses left to the side of buildings, leaned on benches and left behind like paper from a wastebasket. There were plenty of reasons for them to exist beyond incomplete suicide or supernatural means after all. Shinjiro might have called her soft while handing them a foam bowl of soup as they passed. Akihiko would have… well, probably dragged them to the hospital and complained about the time it was wasting.

She smiled, brushing the ermine collar tickling at her throat. She could only think vaguely of the others' choices but she approved them deep down just the same.

Now if only she could approve of their time keeping habits… it was getting past noon. She wouldn't be able to stay outside much longer, at least not without tracking attention. Seeing the gazes of the high school students staring at her as they passed her bench, Mitsuru couldn't help but think that it was a little too late for her to be concerned about that.

 _Note to self: next time, wear less glamorous clothes. You'd think I would remember that._

She almost longed for the days of her school uniform and how easy it was to flaunt. Almost. That brought back the smooth handle of her rapier in hand, ice at her fingers, _his_ voice so calm and clear when he barked out orders or squeezed her shoulder or gave a gentle push towards-

"Mitsuru-san!"

Speak of the angelic devil. Mitsuru scooted to the side as Yukari made to flop on the bench beside her, cargo shorts almost snagging on an upraised nail. Mitsuru raised an eyebrow as Yukari opened her eyes. The younger woman made a face, lips twitching with mirth in an attempt to control it.

"You're making me feel underdressed," Yukari said to Mitsuru.

Mitsuru laughed, red ringlets shifting in the air. "I think you may have accused me of that before, Yukari."

"Well, it clearly hasn't stuck." Yukari exhaled, relaxing into the wood. She gave her jean jacket a careful tug. "Looks like I'm the second one here."

Mitsuru nodded, pursing her lips. "Any word from everyone else?"

"Fuuka's gone to get Ken and Koro-chan," Yukari replied, flipping her phone open before Mitsuru could ask. "No idea where Junpei is, though Chidori is probably the safest bet."

"Akihiko is Akihiko," Mitsuru concluded with a dry laugh. "And Aegis is teaching."

Yukari chortled. "With Yuki-kun's name at that." Mitsuru glanced at her, but the younger woman's face remained at ease. Or at something similar to it. "I can't believe she's already interning. I think that's cheating."

Mitsuru chuckled. "Well, I would say so if I wasn't handed a job the second the dorm closed."

"True." Yukari made a face of mirth. "She's also the manager of our old dorm. Slow down is not on her agenda at all."

"Would you?" Mitsuru asked, taking out her own phone. Akihiko had texted her. It was, as befitting of him when he didn't feel like taking his gloves off, all in English and all in capital letters. She really didn't understand how he did that every single time, but it was amusing all the same. She was so busy responding that she almost missed Yukari's response.

"Mm… probably not. Still." Yukari giggled. "She's teaching home ec."

"Well, she didn't learn from Yamagishi."

Yukari snorted. She doubted that they would have let her teach that course if she had learned from Fuuka. She leaned onto her elbows. "So, uh, not to kill the suspense but…"

"But?" Mitsuru prompted, adjusting her coat again. Yukari tried not to stare at the way the coat was curving right over her sleeves and was tempted to ask if the former ice queen was melting in that. Probably wasn't.

"But… we live together."

Mitsuru cocked an eyebrow. "We do."

"And you've called this big reunion again." Mitsuru nodded. Yukari sighed. "Is this like that incident with the fake bear and the fighting arena? Or are we just catching up?"

Mitsuru sighed. "I will have to be honest with you, Yukari. It's a little bit of both."

The shadows continued to crawl, this time beneath their shoes.

* * *

 _April 2013, Tatsumi Port Island_

For the third time in fifteen minutes, Niko not-so-discreetly closed Taiga's jaw. This time there was a teensy bit of drool. Gross. Not that Taiga noticed or likely even cared. There was a cute girl literally a half a meter away, talking to their friends. Or, well, being talked at. Niko loved Rina, but once you got her on a subject, boy could she chatter. The older student didn't seem to mind though.

Not that that took the crawling sense of unease out of it but well, he had no clue where that came from and this wasn't a god damn anime there was no need for this. She didn't seem like a serial killer or something. It was more like… nostalgia. Yeah, that was it. Hopefully. He wanted to ask, but that was kind of a dumb question. 'Hey do you remember meeting me because purple hair is not common and you look familiar?' Yeah, that would go fantastic.

Well, at least he wasn't alone in it. Yuuya and Akiho kept shooting her weird looks too. Didn't feel quite as unnatural and rude that way. Maybe the transfer student was just weird.

Thinking of that, they still hadn't heard the full story of Akiho being kicked out of her house. That was kind of important. Where was she going to live? There was probably room in the co-ed dorm Taiga and he were going to stay at but that was still really shitty and last minute or something. And they couldn't ask with the new chick around… which was probably done on purpose.

Damn it Akiho.

Then, just like that, they all stopped walking. Niko paused. "What?"

Then he saw exactly what, following the path of each set of eyes to something small and furry sitting on the concrete. Normally, he would assume it was a cat, but the longer he looked at it, the less he was sure of that.

Then it opened its mouth and revealed fangs bigger than its head. Nope, definitely not a cat.

"What the hell is that?" he shouted, one curse word twisting into Russian.

It lunged for him at the sound of his voice. The new girl moved and kicked out, knocking it to the side.

"Run!" She shouted. Of course, no one questioned. Everyone ran. Taiga, being the only one actually well versed in the layout of the area, took the lead with Rina scampering behind him at full speed. The new girl was at the rear, if only because she kept pausing to knock a shadow monster in the face. Niko _really_ wanted to know how she was doing that.

But for now, he'd like to live long enough to get the answer to the questions in his head.

Taiga led them all scrambling up the train station steps and Niko stopped to drag Yuuya up the last few with nary a wince. He was going to get punched in the jaw for that later. They scrambled through the startled students and businessmen off early to wedge themselves into the train car. Even if they were sitting ducks, they might end up being faster moving sitting ducks.

Then a black hand almost made it through the door. Mirei slammed her heel down and it exploded, making someone scream. The train moved. Rolling with a surprising lack of urgency (at least for them they had just been chased by monsters), the group took a few seconds to catch their breath. Taiga then quickly leaned on a pole and started speed typing on his phone.

"I don't think," Niko wheezed. "That the police can help with goop monsters…"

"I'm calling Makoto-sensei," he said through lungfuls of air. "She can't answer texts worth a crap."

"Why are you calling a _teacher_?"

"I don't see you with any better ideas!"

Niko was saved from sputtering out any by their teacher's voice crackling through the speaker of Taiga's phone.

Taiga didn't even let her get the words of her greeting out. "Shadow monsters!"

* * *

 _April 2013, Tatsumi Port Island_

Aegis even now understood very little about teaching. She knew how to teach her subject and the very basics of how people work. She acknowledged in her mind that in another world that this lack of understanding would be the most frustrating thing on the planet and that the little knowledge she had would not be sufficient to do as she desired. However, she was a bit too deeply involved in the universe to give a damn.

Even so, she did understand the idea that teachers have to protect their students. Considering Ikutsuki, she could be forgiven for not expecting to have to fight Shadows to protect her students. It shouldn't have surprised her though.

So she ran with every bit of strength in her mechanical joints. The only ones remotely on pace with her was Mitsuru-san, who had her motorcycle going full blast. Yukari-senpai hung onto her for dear life, torn between screams of laughter and fear.

 _I suppose she can think about that at a time like this…_

Aegis wondered if those two had practiced so Yukari-san could fire her arrows from on the back of the motorcycle. She would have to ask, or insist. One of the two. Right now, she had to focus on getting to her students.

As they grew closer to the train station, she heard the familiar gurgling that would rise up from the ground, the sound which became viscous, black bubbles of slime with red eyes that would soon become more, much more. Much worse.

If they were slow, everyone would die at that train station, not just her students.

But they weren't going to be slow.

Mitsuru's voice crackled into her installed intercom. "I've called for retrieval teams and there are medics waiting at the end of the Iwatodai line." There was a pause. "Yamagishi is on standby back at the mall. We're trying to contact Akihiko and Iori. FOr now, the three of us will go in and dispatch the threats. Be careful of the third rail. This is not the Dark Hour. Understood?"

"Understood." Aegis was quick to reply, worry pumping in her in a replacement of blood. Yukari echoed her followed by a muffled shriek at a sharp turn. "Please don't kill Yukari-san, Mitsuru-san."

"I have managed to avoid it so far."

The closer they grew the more screaming they started to hear. Without hesitation, she raised her hands and fired bullets, skewering a few and leaving others to be taken out by bursts of ice. Aegis would have to appreciate that some other time. Running through the crowd, up the stairs, firing in her wake, Aegis mind blanked to the objective, the first objective that mattered now that the other was performing the true duty of a hero and the second was always fulfilled:

Destroy the target.

And she did.

She didn't have time to think about Shadows appearing outside of a certain place and time, or that their personas should not be active outside of those areas.

Then Fuuka let out a noise of alarm and fear. "Be careful," she shouted, making their ears ring. "Large Shadow incoming!"

Aegis scanned the area of the train station. What few people remained up there were inching towards the stairs and she hurried to direct them. Noise came from down below, each glurk sound cut off by what she hoped was her comrades.

The train tracks started to crackle, slowing an arriving train to a halt. She could see silhouettes beat against the doors but Aegis had to ignore it for the moment as the crackling grew louder and louder until something rose from the ground.

Something that was _nothing_ like a Shadow.


End file.
